(Sports) Ivanovic out as Nadal, Murray win 1st round at Australian Open

Fifth-seed Ana Ivanovic blamed a loss of rhythm as nerves overtook her in her first round Australian Open loss to a qualifier in Melbourne Monday.

Rafael Nadal showed no sign of his persistent back injury as he and Andy Murray both won in straight sets.

Ivanovic, who was a finalist in Brisbane two weeks ago, started well and continued her good form to run away with the 21-minute first set, only to concede the match 1-6, 6-3, 6-2, to world No. 142 Lucie Hradeska.

"I didn't really feel like myself out there," said Ivanovic. " It was really tough for me out to find a rhythm a little bit."

Ivanovic served 10 double faults but she did not solely blame her serving as a reason for the shock loss.

"It was really I think all around the game," she said.

"I really felt like I couldn't really put so much power on my serve or the ground strokes."

"In Brisbane my serve was on such a good level. I really felt like I improved in the off-season."

"Obviously today was really not working."

Ivanovic said her nerves will always play a part in her performances.

"I think it will always. I think it does with all the players," she said.

Having broken the Serbian's serve for her only game, Hradecka went to the break with some hope of putting up a fight.

The Czech player said the center court atmosphere had overwhelmed her.

"I have the feeling on the court that the court is so big. I couldn't hit any balls in the court," she said.

More net approaches and a lower error count in the second set forced Ivanovic to play the ball earlier and more often.

Within 10 minutes and following a run of 13 of 15 points, Hradecka led 3 games to love.

A frustrated Ivanovic found her rhythm with her second service game and drew back level, only for it to depart soon after.

As the shocked crowd quietened, Ivanovic's nervous looks to her box only increased her downward spiral.

Hradecka continued to apply pressure to Ivanovic in the third set, increasing her net approaches to break Ivanovic twice.

Hredecka will next meet an unseeded Slovak, Polona Hercog, who beat China's Wang Qiang 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Rafael Nadal made his return to grand slam tennis with a 6-3, 6- 2, 6-2 win.

Returning to the court where, last year, he cried while battling through an unsuccessful final, Nadal looked nervous in the opening points against 32-year-old Mihkail Youzhny.

He said coming back from a major injury had affected his confidence.

"At the end you know that you're not going to be at your 100 percent, so the most important thing when you are coming back is to accept all the challenges," he said.

But after the initial nerves dissolved, his class rose to the top.

A trademark curling forehand around a diving Mihkail Youzhny brought about the early break.

From there Nadal found his groove, taking the first set 6-3 with another break of the Youzhny serve.

In the second, the gap widened to epic proportions as Nadal showed his best tennis to take 18 of the first 22 points and a 4-1 lead.

"After a tough period of time with injuries, (I) hope this match will give me confidence for play well next round," said Nadal.

Andy Murray won through the second round but not without some difficulty, taken to a third set tiebreak against Yuki Bhambri of India.

Murray, who won 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3), said his opponent was much better than his ranking suggested.

"(He played well) the whole match. He made it very difficult," the Scot said.

"He was injured for much of last year. He shouldn't be ranked 317 in the world."

The record-breaking 49,041 crowd who attended the day session on Monday saw seeds Simona Halep, Grigor Dimitrov and Tomas Berdych all book a second round ticket.

However, ninth-seed Angelique Kerber was a shock loss, beaten in a topsy-turvy clash by Irina-Camelia Begu 6-4, 0-6, 6-1. Endi